chillax with the hate. you are always 'too' sure in your own opinion. i respect the work you've put into the blog but you are acting like this is the worst thing ever. allen likes to prove people wrong, lets give him a chance.

I would rather focus on the worst-case scenario - which is they keep him until Lou is ready to come back...his minutes get cut...he bitches about it...they tell AI to go home...and they make 2-3x the investment they put out.

If I am Snider/Comcast, that's not a lot of downside.

AI is a clear upgrade over whatever they have right now to take Lou's place (or anybody that they could sign on the street). I actually think that with the offense he brings to the table, that Jrue plays in the backcourt with him a lot (for defensive reasons). They can play AI with Iggy and Thad at the 2/3 (something that they might be more hesitant to do with Jrue).

He'll be cheap. He has something to prove. It's a short-term deal. Jrue should still get minutes.

The Sixers are going to do this - from a financial perspective, they'd be IDIOTS not to do it. It's not such a long-term committment that it is going to cause irreparable damage (Jordan has the market cornered on THAT).

Worst-case isn't what you described. Worst-case is Jrue's meaningful minutes end the second AI steps on the floor. AI and Willie start alongside each other until Williams gets back, then Lou and AI start in the back court. Thad never gets touches, AI9 never has the ball in his hands, Jrue may as well get sent down to the NBADL for all the DNPCDs he accumulates. Thad spends another season playing primarily the 4, Iguodala plays another season primarily playing the 3. We've now completely lost the first two seasons of Brand's contract, and probably relegated him to a sixth-man role, fighting Speights for limited big-man minutes in the small ball lineup. We get considerably worse defensively, probably slightly worse offensively with Iverson taking too many shots.

The list goes on from there. Bottom line, the season comes to an end without Iguodala assimilating into the lineup as a 2, Thad as a 3, Jrue playing even nominal minutes. We come back next summer with the same issues we had this past summer, no clear direction for the franchise, and really no hopes that don't involve lottery balls.

But hey, at least Snider will have some money from ticket sales that he won't put back into the team because why waste money on a lost cause.

"I would rather focus on the worst-case scenario - which is they keep him until Lou is ready to come back...his minutes get cut...he bitches about it...they tell AI to go home...and they make 2-3x the investment they put out."

That's actually a nice scenario, but (a) I'm afraid - well, not afraid, I want them to tank - they plan to not cut his minutes when Lou comes back, and (b) wouldn't that be awfully sad? I care for the guy enough to not want to see his reputation completely trashed.

I think it is smart to make it not guaranteed. Look at where he just came from, there is a lot of risk in this deal. Tell him you get your chance to play but if you bring the bitch out, youre walking and not getting anything

Honestly, I don't know why the Sixers wouldn't make this deal right now at a reasonable price. Forget about the fan appeal of the move (even though that may be considerable). Iverson is simply better than any other player they have playing point guard right now.

I know people love Jrue around here, but come on, face it, he's not ready to be a starter. Hasn't he demonstrated that to your satisfaction yet? Let Iverson start and Jrue can take Ivey's and part of Willie's minutes. The only reason Ivey is on the floor is the lack of depth that the Sixers have at the position.

What do the Sixers have to lose from this other than a few places in the draft? In the seemingly unlikely event that Iverson can help the Sixers to reach the playoffs (they appear to have no chance without him) I would rather see them get the 7th or 8th spot in the playoffs than get the 9th to 14th pick in the draft.

Expect big (starter's) minutes for AI and Willie Green. Jrue will get the same treatment Speights got last year in hopes of winning 27 games and getting the 8th seed, where "anything can happen in the playoffs."

I'm with you on that one. I think the only reason Jrue is starting right now is that it came down from above, and I don't think Jordan's happy about it at all. Other than the fact that it allowed him to squeeze in a small lineup to start games.

I'm not saying this to be facetious, but can you name the last team Iverson made better? Or how about the last team that didn't play better after he left? How about the last team to have the worst defense in the league (which is where they're headed) and make the playoffs?

If this team rallies and makes it to the playoffs it will have absolutely nothing to do with Allen Iverson, I don't care if he comes in and scores 40 points a game. The only way they win consistently is if they figure out how to defend. Iverson only makes their biggest weakness weaker.

So you would want to miss a great shot a top 3 pick (a potential superstar to add to the current young core) in exchange for a #12 pick and a the chance to watch a 34 year old AI maybe win almost half their games?

I don't know why anyone thinks he'll make us better. An Iverson-Williams backcourt is a defensive disaster. (And it will send either Brand or Sam to the bench, or who knows, maybe both when Speights comes back. Which is even more of a disaster.) If Brand really is resurgent, and Thad keeps scoring like he's been doing, anything that takes shots away from them and puts them in the hands of a guy like AI makes us score less. You have it backwards in my view. This team, as presently constituted, is no worse than, say, Chicago. They do this every year. Let them be and they'd probably get their customary 8th seed. Iverson, however, will ruin everything.

Currently, though, the 8th-place team has a .400 record. Charlotte would be the 7th seed if the playoffs started today, despite having no offense whatsoever. Can the East continue to be this outrageously weak all season long? I'm inclined to say no but I'm not sure why it can't be. Given that, you wouldn't really need much of a late-season push to sink well into the late lottery, or out of it altogether.

Yes, there's always a large segment of dedicated fans who think they know more than everyone else arguing that a team should boot the season in favor of getting the best possible draft placement. You know, I've never heard any professional players advocating that strategy. That strategy might have worked well for the Bulls, but how many other lousy teams with high draft picks were down for years. One might say that description essentially defines the Clippers franchise. Or, how about the Sixers in the nineties?

Chicago has very lucky at draft time this decade. Other teams have not been so lucky in getting into the top three. Why do you think they call it a "lottery?"

I'd rather have some hope than a team constantly mired in mediocrity tinkering on the edges - it's the billy king years all over again.

Iverson does NOTHING to help this team build towards a championship (if yo ubelieve they have the talent to build towards that in the first place) but he does delude the fans into thinking the sixers are better than they actually are.

I don't see what the big deal is with the non-guaranteed contract. He tanked last season with Detroit because they wanted him to be the sixth man. He quit on Memphis two weeks ago. Wouldn't it be negligent to give a guy who just basically sabotaged his last two employers a guaranteed contract in any line of business?